Many methods of monitoring vehicle performance currently exist. Some of these methods utilize an approach in which operating characteristics of a number of vehicles in a fleet are monitored. The data collected may be manipulated to form a single metric representative of the monitored vehicles. The measured operating characteristic of each vehicle may then be compared to the single metric to assist in evaluating the particular vehicle with respect to the entire fleet.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,215 (“the '215 patent”) describes a method for comparing the characteristics of a vehicle in a fleet to the characteristics of the fleet as a whole. The method of the '215 patent includes sensing characteristics of each vehicle and determining a set of reference data. The method further includes comparing the sensed characteristics of one of the vehicles with the reference data and responsively producing a deviation signal for vehicles having sensed characteristics outside of a predetermined threshold for the particular characteristic.
Although the system of the '215 patent may monitor operating characteristics of a vehicle with respect to other vehicles in the fleet, for a particular application, the system may not enable an operator to evaluate the fleet as it performs the application repeatedly over time. The system may not identify a change in the calculated fleet metric over time and, thus, may not enable a user to evaluate the gradual effects of environmental and/or other factors on fleet performance.
The system of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.